Reflections
Psalm 32: 1-2, 5, 11 (Read)
“I confess my faults to the Lord."
This Sunday's Psalm is one of David’s
penitential psalms. David sings out about
the heaviness of his sin that weighs upon him
so long as he keeps silent. The Psalmist’s sins
were hidden in his heart. Then, when he declares
his sin, and confesses his faults, his burden
is lifted and his guilt is taken away.
David’s sins may not have been so obvious
as the sores on the lepers described in this
Sunday's lst reading. (Leviticus 13:1-2)
But like those same lepers, David is compelled
to cry out, “Unclean, unclean,” and to seek
God’s forgiveness in order to be healed.
Just as David throws himself on the mercy
of the Lord, so does the leper in today's Gospel,
who kneels before Jesus and moves the
Lord to pity. (Mark 1:40-41)
The leper in the Gospel shouts for joy after he
is made clean. The same thing can happen to us
when we receive the Sacrament of Confession
and we are made clean inside. We may not be joyful
for the same reasons as the leper, but as Jesus says,
it is what's inside our hearts that needs to be purified.
And having been cleansed from within,
we really have something to be joyful about.
We are all pitiful in the sight of Christ,
but once on our knees, having confessed and repented
of our sins, there is hope for us whose sins are forgiven.
As it says in the Psalm, “Blessed is he whose fault
is taken away, whose sin is covered.”
We all need a spiritual cleansing from time to time
if we are to obtain a pure heart. They say confession
is good for the soul, and from what the Psalm tells us,
confessing our faults will lead us to be glad
in the Lord and rejoice.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. This Sunday's Psalm Response is, "I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble,
and you fill me with the joy of salvation." Tell of a 'time of trouble' in your life
when you turned to the Lord, confessed your faults, and were filled with
the 'joy of salvation.'
2. Our psalmist is grateful for God's gift of forgiveness; having confessed his sin
before God, he is a new creation thanks to the grace of God. Give an example
of how your anxiety over your sin ceases when you bow down and confess
your faults to the Lord.
In Psalm 32, it shows that David knew how it felt to have God as his condemning judge. But he also knew the joy and relief of experiencing God’s forgiveness. He instructs us so that we can know the blessings of God’s forgiveness.
ReplyDeleteSo, what an enviable position we find ourselves in when we have our sins lifted from us – dismissed – forgiven.
And I don’t know what kind of problems each one of us have today. There are some whose family members are close to death – and this is a very troubling and sobering reality. Some have pagan family members – and that’s a great sorrow and trial. Some have worrying health problems that might keep us up at night. We all live in a nation in a day and age that is just oftentimes frightening. We’re weak. We’re dying. We have all sorts of problems.
And yet – our sins are forgiven. Every other issue in our lives can just kind of quiet down and take a back seat when we have this settled – when we have our sins forgiven.
Some quotes are mistakenly thought of as Biblical... such as "God helps those who help themselves." It's an encouraging notion, meant to stir self-initiative, but not actually found in God's Word. Other quotes, not always linked to religion are, in fact, Biblical -- such as "... And the truth shall make you free..." from John 8:32. I am reminded of this verse as I contemplate Psalm 32.
ReplyDeleteWhat a powerful experience it is, to have my sins forgiven. After receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or even after a heartfelt prayer session, I feel a weight of sin lifted from my body.
There is huge relief that goes hand in hand with joy, after asking forgiveness for my sins. And with the cleansing, comes a feeling of freedom. I am no longer hindered by the dark heaviness of my wrongdoings, at least until I fall into sin again.
I love that God, by his very nature, wants to forgive us. He is always there and ready to restore us to goodness. He waits for us to find him as David does -- in the sincere confession of sin, coming before the Lord in humility and a contrite heart, only to be rewarded with joy. Bowing down before God in sorrow for sin, brings yet more reason to bow down before him in thanksgiving and praise.
But how long do we feel this joy? With repentant hearts, we aim to break patterns of sin, strongholds that the enemy has over us. Even when we repeat sin, God is patient and convicts us of what is wrong in our lives. He makes us aware of the sin so that he can set us free. We CAN experience liberation in Christ -- a taste of heaven on earth.